Cloud computing and social networks are two of the more powerful movements in the web 2.0 space. So the potential of social media and the cloud integrating is compelling to say the least. Salesforce.com recently rolled out the Service Cloud, a customer service application that tries to capture the crowdsourced pools of knowledge floating across the internet from sites like Google, Facebook and Amazon, and then uses this information to better equip commercial customer service operations with useful knowledge. Salesforce has now connected Twitter to the Service Cloud, allowing customer service reps using the SaaS to access tweets from more than 8 million Twitter users.
Salesforce’s CRM for Twitter allows enterprises to search for tweets about their companies, products and brands. Here’s how it works. First, Salesforce CRM searches within the Service Cloud for any tweets that are relevant to a company. Then, the company can capture and monitor the conversation, creating a database in the Service Cloud that keeps track of all subsequent conversations about the company. The Service Cloud also allows enterprises to tap into company-wide online communities, creates connections to existing social networks and the blogosphere, provides SEO tools, shares the social network knowledge with business partners, and integrates customer service operations into the cloud.
The Service Cloud seems like a useful tool to capture and then sort conversations about a particular enterprise. But what’s fascinating is how businesses want to tap into the dialogue of what’s happening on social networks, like Facebook and Twitter. Social networks are becoming much more than an online gathering of friends; Facebook and Twitter are becoming destinations for ideation, e-commerce and marketing. Its of no surprise that companies want an easy and simple way to capture all of the information that is relevant to their businesses and then leverage this knowledge to improve customer service. As we’ve said earlier, Salesforce has consistently managed to provide innovative, desirable technology platforms for enterprises to merge their business operation with the web 2.0 world.
